This is one of the most difficult letters we’ve ever had to write, in part because we’re not used to asking for help. We’re used to finding our own way, navigating the dark waters of uncertainty with a spirit of adventure, an understanding that this, too, shall pass and that tomorrow is a new day filled with new opportunity. We are entrepreneurs; we are the lifeblood of our communities. We saw possibility where most people saw a mess, a run-down building, an old gas station, an empty warehouse, an eyesore. We had a dream for a better life for ourselves, and we built it block by block, piece by piece, pushing through the seemingly impossible with a spirit of fortitude. It’s hard, tireless, often thankless work. Sleepless nights and quiet fears give rise to endless daily challenges, obstacles and hurdles. We’re used to the chaos of a busy Friday night, or the plumbing failing at the worst possible moment, or the walk-in giving up during the rush on a Saturday, or people not showing up for their shifts. As restaurant owners, we’ve seen and heard just about everything. And when it comes down to it, we slap on a smile, roll up our sleeves and figure it out, one way or another.
But nothing could have prepared us for this. We’ve never seen anything like it in our lifetime.
On March 17, we were forced to close our doors to the public. It was St. Patrick’s Day, which is a big day for most restaurants. Winters are slow in this business, especially in a tourist town like ours. St. Paddy’s Day is our big hoorah as we climb out of the winter hole we’ve sunk into and start to finally see an increase in revenue heading into the busy spring and summer months. We plan weeks ahead for the big event — ordering extra beer, wine, liquor and special menu items, spending extra time and money on prep to get people in the door.
But this year, it was all in vain. We had about six hours after receiving the mandatory shutdown order from the governor to figure out how to shift our entire business model from a full-service restaurant and bar to a takeout-only operation. This was an easier transition for some than others. As a barbecue restaurant, we already did a good amount of takeout. We pushed hard for third-party deliveries and contact-free curbside pickup. We pulled our food truck out of storage, which we had been planning to sell in order to give us a boost coming out of the long winter months, but now it had become our lifeline.
We laid off our entire front-of-house staff in one day. By the end of the week, 90% of our staff was out of a job, laid off in the hopes that they would return when this whole thing blew over. But it isn’t blowing over. A two-week stay-at-home order turned into a six-week stay-at-home order, and now that seems like just a pipe dream, too. We cannot reopen our doors at the end of April, or maybe even the end of May or maybe even the end of June. Everything is entirely uncertain for us, for our employees and for our industry throughout the country and throughout the world.
It may be surprising for some to learn that restaurants — even very busy, high-end ones — largely operate on a week-by-week, month-to-month basis. The money we make this month pays the bills from last month. The money we make this week pays our employees next week. We have small profit margins because, among other things, we employ a disproportionate number of employees compared to the revenue we are bringing in.
Everything is expensive for restaurants, but especially for independent restaurants, which source ingredients locally and spend extra time on prep in order to elevate our menu items for a memorable experience that sets us apart and keeps people coming back. Money flows in, and it flows right back out into our community. Produce suppliers, food purveyors, local farms, linen services, bakeries, knife-sharpeners, restaurant supply stores — the list goes on and on — and we support them all. Not to mention our servers, bartenders, kitchen staff, hosts, dishwashers, managers and all of their respective families. The economic supply chain we directly or indirectly support has been completely disrupted from the top to the bottom.
You may be thinking to yourself: Isn’t there help out there? From the government? Well, yes and no. The entire small-business community of the entire United States of America is vying for a very limited amount of resources. Hair salons, nail salons, tanning salons, tattoo parlors, retail shops, bars and restaurants are all in the same boat. We are frantically applying for loans, which means running numerous “hard checks” on our credit scores, which has an adverse effect, even under these emergency circumstances.
If we seem desperate, that’s because we are. Our sales have been slashed 90%-100% in some cases. Our cash flow has been completely cut off at the source. Where there once was a rushing river, there is now just the drip, drip, drip of a leaky faucet coming in. And the bills are still due. We pay massive amounts in taxes each month. We pay massive amounts in rent. Our landlord isn’t cutting us a break just because our income has all but ceased to exist. We are emptying our bank accounts on payroll and auto drafts and bills that must be paid, deposits that must be returned from our canceled catering events, and everything in between. We cut our menu down to a fraction of what it once was because we can’t afford to pay for the labor to make the things on our menu that our community has come to know and love.
One month from today will be our five-year business anniversary. You may or may not know, but most restaurants take at least five years to become profitable. Until then, we’re just maintaining and maneuvering; we’re just staying afloat. We’ve seen hard times, and we’ve seen good times, but mostly, running a restaurant feels like a long line of “kick ’em while they’re down.” Murphy’s law very much applies to our business model. And that’s just the way it is. Most of us didn’t get into this business to get rich. We just wanted to get by, and for many of us, the restaurant business is all we’ve ever known.
There’s a lot of heart in this industry. There’s a lot of soul. We put our team first, many of whom have become like family. We are giving. We donate what we can, when we can, to various charities and community fundraisers and the like. This may give people the impression that we have a lot to give, but the truth is, we don’t. We give because we care. We give because we know that without the support of our community, we would not exist. We put every resource, every ounce of energy we have, every last dollar and dime into the making of our small business.
And right now, we are watching all of our hard work, sacrifices and resources slip right through our hands, helpless to do anything about it. Our walk-ins are empty. Our shelves are cleared. We are back to basics and absolute bare necessity survival mode, but we won’t last this way for much longer. We need help. We are pleading with the city of Asheville, with Buncombe County and with the state of North Carolina to provide us with some relief and some assistance. We are the charity cases now.
As an industry, we don’t have a voice. We don’t have representation. There are no lobbyists working on our behalf in Washington. We have no unions or safety nets to speak of. We are — now, more than ever — completely on our own, lacking the resources and funds to continue on, surveying the massive damage caused to our businesses through no fault of our own. Even looking forward to “after” (if there is an after), we must move forward always with COVID-19 in mind. When your business model is “bringing people together,” how do you survive a pandemic that requires everyone to stay apart?
Of course, we see the bigger picture. We want our employees and our community to be safe and to stay healthy. We want to be a part of the solution. We want to help. As lifelong hospitality industry workers, it is quite literally what we do. We are humbled by this sudden disruption to our livelihoods. We are scared that we may not come through this crisis to the other side. We are your neighbors, your friends, your families, and we are suffering. We are clamoring just to get back to square one, to get to a place where the best we can hope for is to start all over again. Our credit cards maxed out, our bank accounts empty — a very real “if you had it to do all over again, would you?” type of ultimatum, with implications that will shake the entire economy as we know it without intervention.
And the answer is: Yes, we would do it all again. We will. We must. But we need help. This is a natural disaster, an unforeseen catastrophe. We are devastated, but we are resilient. Please, please do something. We are more than willing to put in the work, but our resources are depleted. This is our distress call, and the time for action is now.
Thank you for your time and attention to this pressing matter.
— Jeff and Stephanie Barcelona
Owners of Bonfire BBQ
West Asheville
Editor’s note: The owners add that, while they do not speak for all restaurants, they believe “most of us are in the same boat.”
A lot of others in Aville are in the same boat. Restaurant owners can now see how they were used by this “city” a means to attract tourists. Where that money has/had gone is not available…but we can guess. Sorry for you guys. Hope you get some semblance of compassion, and in a generous amount.
How about we divert the Asheville tourism budget to give checks to local businesses that make the city worthwhile?
Tourism generated $199.1 million in state and local revenues in 2017.
In total, tourism generates $53 million in property taxes – 16% of the total property tax for Buncombe County and 1/3 of the total for the City of Asheville.
City of Asheville: $27.9 million total, $20.6 million property tax and $6.2 million sales tax.
Buncombe County: $63.1 million total, $32.4 million property tax and $28.7 million sales tax.
State of North Carolina: $108.2 million total, including $73.7 million of sales tax.
GREAT GREAT GREAT idea.
Open anyways in defiance of the order. We cannot keep the economy closed. Civil disobedience!
Right. Because profit is always more important than human life!
I do believe they are open. Their dining areas are closed.
Maybe if NC eased the open container law for the duration of the quarantine/pandemic ?
Tennessee has done this! It is great! To go alcohol has helped our bars a lot!
Ahh… yes! The libertarian approach to a public health crisis: “Do not interfere with my God given right to spread an infectious disease to unsuspecting others because it limits my own distorted, self-absorbed notions of freedom.”
I love my Bonfire family so much, and I really am trying to help as much as one unemployed girl can for sure. I started going more because my best friend worked there, but it has truly been my home on Tuesday nights for over a year now. Outstanding food, wonderful conversations and so much more. Sending a lotta love from this direction. <3 <3 <3 <3
Is there any way to even temporarily modify your business model so that the local folks who believe in your business can somehow assist with cash? I can only speak for myself, but if I had some cash to spare, I’d be more than willing to donate it to an organization to give to local businesses if I could receive goods and services for a reduced price in the future…. much like those coupon books for local businesses.
Yes great idea at The Local Joint we give cash coupons for future visits!
Article good intent bit you do have some representation if you choose the NRA. https://www.restaurant.org/Home
Why has the Buncombe County Tourism and Development Authority NOT asked Governor Cooper to lift statutory restrictions on how their $12 Million can be spent? Other counties across the country are doing this. Why not the TDA? They have donated a very piddly 3% of their 2020 Advertising Budget to the One Buncombe Fund.
Brooke,
The Governor doesn’t have the authority to reallocate TDA even if they asked him to. The legislature has to modify the terms.
We at Bliss Beauty Bar are feeling the same. We are a little under a year old invested all we had to completely rebuild a Salon. We were notified on 3/17 @ 3:02PM that we had to lock doors @ 5PM. Not one of us have seen any unemployment, no word on SBA loan, nothing. And that’s the hardest part. Is no answers. No reopen date, nothing.
I have been in this business for 20 years. And have never experienced anything like this! Prayers to all Small Businesses.
This place does not have great barbcue. Suck it up and have better food and they would have more money coming in.
Kick em while they’re down, that’s the spirit we all need right now! Obviously their bbq is good if they’ve been able to survive in this competitive market for 5 years. What have you created? What’s your business?
We LOVE Bonfire. Keep it to yourself, seriously.
Classy, Brian. Real classy. Not the time, man.
Writing that comment was the largest waste of human energy I’ve seen all day.
Poor poor Brian, bless it. Do us all a favor and stay home! Based of that comment you clearly don’t get it and no one in our business wants your money.
This letter could’ve been written by any food or drinking establishment, small retail shop, or service business that involves human contact. We are experiencing a complete economic catastrophe, and I don’t see how many of us are going to pull through this without a radical re-imagining of what the economy is, and who it serves. We are going to have to have a huge pause in our economy, until there are systems in place to protect all of us. We can say goodbye to the lives we had, at least for a year or more. That’s a hard reality. Your restaurant may have to close, many will. But food still must be made, and consumed. Perhaps you should rethink the use of the space and consider a pantry, food co-op, donation based, etc. Also, we all need to rethink what money is. We have skills and services to offer and need to amp up bartering exchanges so we all don’t end up rioting in the streets. At some point there will be a vaccine, or a stop gap treatment. Until then, accept that life as we knew it is over, but we will make it through this. And hopefully, we will then address the issues of health disparity, wealth disparity and climate change. And hopefully we will have a President, and politicians that address our real needs, and not those of some lobbyist-driven industry like tourism.
i continue to maintain that Tourism is not a sustainable form of economy.
As of today, NC has 5,024 cases and 108 deaths out of a population of almost 11 million and no telling how many transients and folks who fled from other states…..and the majority of NC’s 100 counties have 10 or fewer cases and 1 or 0 deaths. Yet Mr. Cooper wants to tighten it up further and keep everything shut down for longer.
Some Governors and civic leaders now want to go a step further and dictate what constitutes “essential items” that can be bought and sold besides food, medicine and terlet paper.
That frankly appears to be someone’s inner Mussolini running amok….
Philip, did you not take high school biology? Maybe you just didn’t pay attention. The reason we have so few cases is because Cooper took such drastic measures. Look at the WLOS story about the infected person who was working at the Lowes in Murphy….want to guess how many people they infected? Biology doesn’t care about your extremist political views.
Ah yes, Of course. I should have known better. But, as avoidance of exposure does not afford immunity, and if this virus is as aggressively contagious as they say, then it is likely we’ll see another spike or curve when restrictions are eased up. Or when the virus mutates as it will. COVID-19 is “A” coronavirus, not “THE” coronavirus. Same family of bugs as the common cold, which has plagued humankind for centuries. I am not a scientist or a physician, but I can read. It will be interesting to see if all this will eventually result in a vaccine for the cold as well…. and if we will shut down the country every time this thing resurfaces.
Well, mate – Murphy is in Cherokee County, and as of today, Cherokee County, NC reports 12 cases and 1 death. There will undoubtedly be more as time progresses and testing expands. Noticed yesterday that a gent in Swain County, which currently reports 0 cases and 0 deaths as of today received a ticket good for a $1,000 fine or 60 days in jail for breaking a county-imposed curfew by a few minutes and “his papers vere not in order”….
Well mate, as of this morning, 14 cases and 1 death in Cherokee County. Not to say that it will not jump, but I am glad it hasn’t so far. In any case, it hasn’t been an example of “exponential growth”….
I don’t think biology has got much of a handle on this disease or its real modus operandi just yet. Good thing WLOS sticks to news instead of science. Oh – and what do you know about my “extremist political views”? Learned “all you need to know” about me from an opinion in the op/ed section, did you?
A big reason why the cases have been as low as they have been in NC is BECAUSE of the shut down. Opening things up too soon will result in an explosion of cases that will overwhelm the hospitals and medical system.
Again – if it is as aggressively contagious as they say, and if it is in a continuing state of mutation as most viruses are, when is “too soon”?? Shutter everything until the virus is “eradicated”? Just like we’ve “eradicated” the Cold and Flu? Surrender constitutionally guaranteed liberties every time folks get sick?
One item of interest is California…as of this morning, they have reported 25,777 cases and 789 deaths from COVID-19. CA reported their first case on 26 January. New York, on the other hand, has 202,392 cases and 13,303 deaths and their first case was reported on 1 March.
While I understand that there are some vast differences in the two – in geography, demographics and climate – and the NYC subway system and general living arrangements contributed to a faster spread, it seems that there would still not be such a vast difference. I think it may be due to the fact that CA is a major port of entry for Asian travelers whether by air or sea – and it hit CA shortly after it broke out in China, and a number of citizens have accidentally acquired herd immunity. Just a theory – but interesting to consider.
And there are other physicians and scientists with other opinions and observations besides Dr. Fauci and the WHO. There are undoubtedly some holes in this one – but I don’t hold a chair for epidemiology and public health at Stanford… again, worth reading:
https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/17/a-fiasco-in-the-making-as-the-coronavirus-pandemic-takes-hold-we-are-making-decisions-without-reliable-data/?fbclid=IwAR1PJFHjfZLIVS_bN8aA0VuLKFSs6-mVj-WUKiXu6WfKaulQz_KX9agLJC4
California was the first state to issue a shelter in place order on March 19th.
New York probably had earlier cases, but they probably weren’t diagnosed.
Also a lot of the New York cases came from Europe.
I believe NC started asking people to stay home in mid-March – I was home on leave in Asheville from 16-20 March and a lot of things had closed – but there were still hundreds of people out and about in the stores that were open, buying up the toilet paper. And none of them wearing masks or gloves. That has been over a month ago, and still NC reports 5,133 cases and 117 deaths as of this morning – in a population of almost 11 million people.
Here on Ft Bragg, NC there are a dozen cases reported and no deaths – out of over 70,000 Soldiers, civilian employees and dependents who live and/or work here. I don’t know a single one of them – my boss was sick and made to stay in quarters for 2 weeks, but it was determined that he had a bacterial sinus and ear infection, not COVID-19. We do have testing sites, masks are required before you can even enter the PX and commissary, and open offices require them if more than 10 people are working there – many people are able to telework from home.
One unnecessary death is one too many I agree, but some folks said not long ago that we’ve done “too little, too late” in the US, and some are saying that the spread and death rates not reflecting recent models and projections is due to the stay at home order. I wonder which is correct?
Yes he is in DC ripping apart what’s left of democracy.
Way too long. They should have already applied for the benefits available to small businesses through stimulus programs. No one wants any businesses to close but get hopping to apply for those benefits
Really? Idk what your perspective is, but if you’re thinking that funds were just readily available weeks ago, you’re wrong… I can connect you with literally thousands of small business owners who are in despair. Join any of the Facebook groups focused on sba loans…it is DEPRESSING. Aaaand we have yet to see the real fallout. The real fallout comes 2-3 months from now, when the dust has theoretically settled. These business owners are only acting in desperation now because they know what is inevitable without immediate relief. I promise you that you will personally be affected by the closing of many small businesses… our city, our world, will never be the same.
I live in swain county. I have owned retail stores for 20 years. I had my paper work done and on the desk of my local bank before they released the money. I still didn’t receive any help, no one has in or around our county. They lied and gave the money to chain restaurants like Ruth Chris 20 million to be exact. This chain had 42 million in profits last year, they should have some reserves one would think. Small businesses get screwed every time!
Bonfire is one of the great examples of a local institution that was created by people that have put their heart and soul into making Asheville a better place for them being here. Seeing all of the pain and suffering caused by this pandemic is heartbreaking. Or country is protecting the wealthy at the expense of those of us who build our communities.
Could the money the city gets for room tax be used for buisness relief instead of advertising for tourism?
The city doesn’t get a dime of the room tax. It all goes to the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority. State law dictates what they can spend it on, and it was set up the way the hotel owners wanted – money can only be spent to bring in more tourists. They donated a very small amount to the One Buncombe fund, but not nearly enough to have an impact.
Hi! i just want to pass along that BizRadio Asheville on 1350am and online at bizradioasheville.com is giving away FREE radio spots, no strings attached, to businesses continuing to operate under the new world order. The 10k watt station covers all of asheville and beyond. For more info on the program and to schedule a recording go here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GtiN5bCwsXjgwtVF8xMeY6Y_Nqfcwkrx/view?usp=drivesdk
Noticed that Denmark and Norway are gravitating towards the Swedish model for handling COVID-19, which has been fairly lax compared with many other places – I don’t think that they have ever shut completely down.
I realize that the US is not Sweden – I have said from the start that a blanket solution either way – either no restriction or total restriction – is not feasible in a country that consists of 50 states and 5 territories, all with highly diverse geography, demographics, population centers, climate, etc. – even within the state – Charlotte, NC is not Asheville, NC is not Hothouse, NC is not Whalebone Junction, NC.
I do find it quite ironic how some folks continually compare the United States to the Baltic States on other things when the comparison bolsters their own arguments. I also think one big difference that these other nations have from the US is that a crisis like this usually does not become a political show, with government and opposition using populist tricks to score off one another or to blame the other side for deaths. Just an observation.
Are you sure you want Sweden as your poster child? https://www.euronews.com/2020/04/16/sweden-under-fire-for-covid-19-containment-as-deaths-hit-record-high
Like I said, the US is not Sweden. Yes, I know that they have 12,549 cases and 1,333 deaths as of today whereas Italy has 168,941 cases and 22,170 deaths. I also know the population difference in the two countries. I also know that the state of New York has 222,284 cases and 14,776 deaths in a population of almost 20 million and that NC has 5,465/131 out of nearly 11 million. Perhaps Gov. Cooper’s response was better and quicker than Mayor de Blasio’s and Gov. Cuomo’s? And of course we don’t have an NYC subway system.
My attempted point (thru the whole conversation) was that blanket solutions are difficult to apply to different countries – or even to different localities and states within countries (we have 50 states and 5 territories). I just wonder when is “too soon” to relax restrictions here? Is the best bet to stay in a bubble until COVID-19 is “eradicated”? Or until testing reveals that the majority of the population has already been exposed?
I noticed where an ice cream lover in Swain County busted the recent county-imposed 10pm curfew by a few minutes because he went into Jackson County to pick up some ice cream and strawberries, and on the way home got handed a citation worth $1,000 and/or 60 days in chokey. You’re some species of pleader, aren’t you? Is Swain County right from a constitutional standpoint?? I ask because I honestly don’t know. And I have noticed that a lot of folks who were harshly criticizing the police over any number of things a month or so ago, now seem to think the police are infallible or “just doing their job”. Interesting times we live in. I will honestly be glad when we can get back to arguing over dead Confederates.
“I just wonder when is “too soon” to relax restrictions here?”
Before there are adequate tests, contact tracing, and PPE. It’s going to take time to get all that in place so we don’t have another surge in cases. And that’s gotta be nationwide. Unfortunately, there’s a segment of the body politic that still believes that it’s more important to deny the facts and obstruct the response because there’s an election coming up.
After Barry’s comment appeared, a Harvard expert estimated that we need at least three times more testing before we can make rational decisions about when and how to reopen. The New York Times story includes a state-by-state chart. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/17/us/coronavirus-testing-states.html. Meanwhile, the President says that current testing is sufficient and that states should be liberated when the mob yells loudly enough. So we have two expert opinions. Whoyagonna trust?
Hold on. The party line just changed again. Now we need more tests, and Trump will invoke the Defense Production Act to get them. Maybe we are back at war after all. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/04/19/coronavirus-latest-news/#link-544SIC24KFHFDKZ7SJ76BKFLIE
Case in point: the President of the United States sending out tweets encouraging protestors to rebel against the stay-at-home orders issued by Democratic Governors. Kinda hard to feel like we’re all pulling in the same direction.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/493329-trump-appears-to-back-those-protesting-social-distancing-measures
As another great helmsman said in a different context: To rebel is justified.
Although, come to think, it’s sorta the same context, ain’t it? https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mao-Zedong/The-Cultural-Revolution
Everyone is struggling, for sure. We own Scandals Nightclub – a business that hasn’t had to shut its doors for a single week in more than 30-years, in Asheville, before this. Being an enclosed venue, dependent on large crowds to survive, we were the first to be forced to close, and we will certainly be the last allowed to open. And, we do open, we will likely be allowed very limited occupancy. We, being a nightclub/bar and venue space, are the silent minority, not spoken much here, in this thread. but I speak for all nightclubs/bars when I say that our business depends fully on our locals to keep our staff employed, and being a building of such massive size, we depend on our locals and tourists, alike, to keep the doors open. This is not a restaurant issue, alone: it is an Asheville business issue, 100% across the board. Clothing shops, tattoo parlors, gift shops… and yes, nightclubs/bars are considered “non-essential”; and therefore, we CANNOT OPEN, even at a limited capacity. None of our staff has worked since the beginning of March, and if all goes well, come the May 15th date the City is projecting to begin Some state of normalcy, we will still be unable to open, fully, or employ a full staff, given our business model. It’s a travesty for ALL…
Meanwhile, the Usual Suspects compare our President to Mao Tse Tung because he tweets in favor of letting states and communities get back towards normal – if not all the way back to normal…I wonder what would happen if medicos stuck to medicine and politicos stuck to politics.
Here’s an unusual suspect who says the same thing I said, sans the historical analogy. Maybe he won’t impact your blood pressure the way I apparently do. Enjoy. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-war-on-pragmatism/2020/04/19/b189c6a6-80e0-11ea-9040-68981f488eed_story.html
He tweets in favor of undermining (Democratic) Governors and his own “medicos” in the middle of a pandemic. “Liberate” blah blah blah. Is it a coincidence that the idiots gathering in defiance of social distancing and masks are all all waving Trump signs etc.? This is about getting him re-elected. He doesn’t care if millions die.
“Get back towards normal…” The pandemic hasn’t even peaked yet, in fact new hotspots are springing up in places where GOP Governors either have never closed their states down, or are trying to re-open them too fast.
Example, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Their Governor has refused to shut things down, saying she’ll use “common sense”… So, the Smithfield meat plant kept on cranking with no PPE distributed to workers, workers standing inches apart for 8 hours a day etc., who were also listening to their idiot Governor… Now over 600 of them have contracted the virus, and there’s over 1200 cases in Sioux Falls, SD. They finally shut down the plant, but not before they will have killed maybe a hundred people or more, if the fatality rate holds.
https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/politics/2020/04/15/cdc-sioux-falls-smithfield-foods-becomes-largest-coronavirus-hotspot-us/5138372002/
If someone is a member of a death cult, I guess that’s their right. But they don’t have a right to drag the rest of us down with them.
I dunno what your problem is. The comparison to the Cultural Revolution works for me. The Great Leader ignores reality, screws everything up, assures the people that everything’s fine, but then abruptly changes course and hands the reins of leadership over to more pragmatic officials. Later, fearing that he will lose power permanently, he changes course again, turns on the very leaders who carried out his policy instructions, vilifies them for using science and reason as their guides, and, solely for his own selfish benefit, urges his fanatical followers to overthrow established authority while mouthing brainless slogans. What could go wrong?
And, right on cue – GOP Buncombe Commissioners try to delete ‘contact tracing’ and ‘isolation’ from a Board resolution about fighting COVID-19, despite the fact that those are “key elements” in the CDC plan for local governments. Do they want their own friends neighbors family members and constituents to get sick and die? I don’t get it.
https://mountainx.com/news/buncombe-board-split-on-direction-for-next-phase-of-covid-19-response/
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/open-america/contact-tracing.html
Yes, Skunkum County’s 45 cases and 3 deaths clearly illustrate that thar exponential growth thing – and only shows that the lockdown is working even though we did too little too late at the start. Not a soul is out and about anywhere out that way I am sure.
And that 10pm curfew over in Swain must be working extra well for the folks out west – still 0 cases and 0 deaths – I reckon that virus is more dangerous after 10pm than it is in daylight.
And Mr. “aaa”‘s concerns over Cherokee County’s” Typhoid Larry” that he chides me about above – Cherokee Co. still shows 14 cases and 1 death….Helluva “death cult” we lockdown critics must belong to – it appears we’ve chosen a fairly lame method of doing ourselves in…..a pretty good death cult to belong to if you’re not overly committed to dying..
Well, crickets now for 5 days…. I heard from a Mission employee that the “overflow” medical tents were taken down the other day as they were never used….another friend who is a full-time EMT and part-times for the Hospital hasn’t been worked for the hospital in almost 2 months because of no patients.
This article brings up some interesting points – I realize it is an op/ed piece by a healthcare executive but some points do seem worth considering – to my simple mind, anyhow. Perhaps some of you docs, scientists, economists and constitutional scholars out there can shoot it full of holes? https://www.newsweek.com/most-us-hospitals-are-empty-soon-they-might-closed-good-opinion-1500028?fbclid=IwAR2kFTvc-yzKJFF4g1ulu6J2uh0MIOmR_bVF9An3by3FPeWhOuz2tuNeN30